Have you ever been caught unprepared for the questions your children ask or wondered what they talk about when they think you’re not listening? The newest NCJW/Essex project, Carpool Conversations, aims to provide parents with the tools necessary to engage in conversations with their children about difficult and sensitive topics – before they face issues – allowing them to grow up strong, kind and safe. The project’s launch event will take place on Thursday April 4, 2019 from 10:30 am – 12:00 pm at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, Short Hills, NJ.
Carpool Conversations arose out of an NCJW/Essex production of SLUT: The Play in 2017, a provocative drama that sparked a conversation about consent, sexism and sexual violence as well as how to parent children in a particularly challenging environment influenced by social media. Acknowledging that conversations often start when parents are taking their children to and from activities, when they are not expecting or prepared for them to happen, NCJW/Essex created Carpool Conversations as an opportunity to help educate parents on how to navigate through these sensitive conversations with their children.
The launch of Carpool Conversations will include a panel of local experts: Donna Ellenbogen, M.S. Ed., LCSW, Jacqueline Mesnik, PhD, Andrea Sherman, LCSW, and Abby Silverman, MD. With their unique perspectives, they will provide parents with the tools to engage in important conversations with their children as well as educate attendees on sensitive topics so they have a better understanding on how to address them in a discussion.
The goal of Carpool Conversations is to breakdown walls between parents and children and open up opportunities for dialogue and understanding. Following the launch event, NCJW/Essex will continue Carpool Conversations with small group discussions facilitated by professionals in private homes or at the NCJW/Essex office about such topics as consent, sexuality explicit material, social media, body image and gender expectations.
The fee to attend the Carpool Conversations launch is $10 for NCJW/Essex members and $15 for nonmembers. For more information or to register, please call (973) 740-0588 or visit www.ncjwessex.org.